LANSING, Mich. (WOOD) — An important hearing focusing on women’s health and the fight against breast cancer occurred Thursday in Lansing.

The hearing was over a proposed bill that if approved, would make it state law for doctors to alert women who have dense breast tissue, a trait that could render traditional mammograms virtually useless in detecting cancerous tumors.

The legislation has received bi-partisan sponsorship, which means there is a better chance it could gain traction in both the Michigan House of Representatives and Senate.

At Thursday’s hearing, a representative of the Michigan Radiological Society testified against the legislation.

The representative’s argument was that medical data and decisions should be made solely between a doctor and his or her patient, and that legislating requirements about what doctors must say to patients is a “slippery slope.”

A Senate committee will decide whether or not to move the legislation forward. If it is voted out of committee, the full Senate could vote on it. It would then move on to the House of Representatives.

Dozens of supporters of the bill boarded buses in Grand Rapids Thursday morning to make the trip to Lansing in hopes that the bill would move forward. Among those was WOOD-TV’s general manager whose family has been touched by breast cancer.

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